Hip-hop missionary and MIA's ex-beau

No one is more central to dance music's recent multicultural direction than Philadelphia-based DJ, producer and record company boss Wesley Pentz, better known as Diplo. Born in Mississippi to parents who only listened to Christian music, he was part of the generation that discovered the world via hip hop.

'It's the ultimate postmodern music; taking samples from everywhere and fucking shit up,' he says. 'In that way, a hip hop diet has exposed the roots of all music to this generation. People can see that there's not much difference between all these styles.'

Having never fitted into any scene, Diplo created his own. After relocating to America's East Coast, his Hollertronix parties popularised the south's crunk-style of hip hop long before it stormed the charts. Discovering Brazilian funk carioca via the Baltimore children he taught in music workshops opened a Pandora's box of global urban sounds and, as the boss of his own label, Mad Decent, he established links between various urban scenes, producing the likes of ex-girlfriend MIA.

'The old world music community is underpinned with colonialist guilt - it's a voyeur,' he says. 'With hip hop as a shared starting point, for us it's all about interaction.'